how to reduce wind noise for rack bars

How to Reduce Wind Noise or Whistling

How to reduce wind noise for your car roof box or roof rack? You are about to find the solutions in this article. You can use a car roof box for multiple purposes to maximize the outcomes of your outdoor adventures. Have you also searched about how to clean your cargo box, how to pack your roof box, and is it safe to use a car roof box? If you are new to a car roof box, those articles on our site may have the info that can help you a little bit in better knowing your roof box.

A car roof box is a plastic container that you can attach to the top of your vehicle for carrying gear, clothes, items, luggage, equipment, and other stuff. People often use a car rooftop carrier for road journeys, outdoor sports, and camping vacations. However, every coin has two sides. Although car roof boxes are popular and useful for people, they also have disadvantages. 

In this article, we are mainly discussing one of the cargo boxes’ shortcomings – wind noise. While you are driving a car with a car rooftop carrier, you can hear much wind noise like whistling. Do you want to know how to reduce the wind noise of car roof boxes? Keep reading to find solutions.


We Start From Here

First, you are about to know how the wind noise accrued during the time of your driving. You have to understand the mounting system of car roof boxes then you will realize why there is wind noise exists.

The tower and the U-bolts will support your rack system in position.
The tower holds the U-bolts and the
U-bolts support the rack bars in position.

In general, car roof boxes are mounted on car roof bars(rack systems), and different cars need different rack systems. The Fit Kit and the tower are the two most essential components of the mounting system. If you have a flat roof, you may need to purchase a fit kit to support the tower. If you need to buy a fit kit, you have to contact your car dealer for advice because a fit kit is not a universal fit product. If you know what type of fit kit you need, you can check Ebay or Amazon search results for Fit kit.

Besides, the towers are universal fit, so you can pick one set and mount them on the fit kits. The towers can help you to hold the bars in positions on the roof of your car.

After talking about the towers and the fit kits, we continue to move up to figure out what is above the mounting towers. The crossbars (rack bars) are standing on top of the towers for holding your car roof box. 

On the market, you have round, square, and aero crossbars for selections. According to our research online, the square rack system produces the most noise than the other two options, and it is the cheapest option. The round crossbar is standing in the middle of these three options. The aero rack bar is quiet while you are driving, but it is expensive. 

After a secure and accurate installation of a rack system, you can attach your car rooftop carrier to the roof of your vehicle with two types of components: t-track adapters or U-bolts. 


Find Out the Reasons for Wind Noise

When you have installed your car roof box to the roof of your vehicle, you will find that there is vertical space between the box and the roof surface. While you are driving your car on the highways, the coming air will fly through the gap to create a whistling sound. The gap is the main reason for wind noise, so let us find out how to fix it.

How to Reduce the Wind Noise of a Car Roof Box

how to reduce wind noise for car roof boxes or rack bars
Find out the reason for wind noise or whistling sound
It is a good video that shows everything you need to know about wind noise or whistling sounds caused by roof racks or other cargo carriers. When you use cargo carriers (bike racks, kayak racks, skis rooftop carriers, and other rooftop-mounted carriers) on the car roof, the cargo management system generates wind noise when it is in motion. The video shows how wind noise happens and what to do to avoid further problems in producing wind noise on the roads.

4 Methods of How to Reduce Wind Noise of the Rack System

You can use some ropes or bungee cord to wrap the front bar from one side to the other end for disrupting the airflow while your car is moving at high-speed. This solution can only reduce the noise, but the whistling noise will still play with you. For better results, you can choose to use a rack pad to warp your crossbars to both reduce wind noise and protect hard-surface gears.
You can adjust the position of your roof bars to decrease the volume of the wind noise, but this solution is limited to results.
On the market, you can find some products to help you in solving the wind noise problem. Airfoil is one of the solutions. An airfoil installs around the front rack bar to block the gap between the box and the car roof, so the air can only go through from the sides and top of your car roof box. Consequently, you will not hear that whistling sound anymore.
A fairing is another option to shoot down the wind noise. A fairing is a plastic plate that can install on the front bar to fill in the gap for terminating the wind noise under high-speed driving. We highly recommend this method to you because this solution can create a perfect result that equalizes the consequence of using an expensive aero rack system.

DIY- How to Use Bungee Cord to Reduce Wind Noise – Video Tutorial

Road testing after applying the DIY solution to the roof racks – the volume of wind noise before and after

Above are four ways how to reduce wind noise for your car roof box, and you can try each of them to find the best solution for your needs. Below, we are going to recommend some products to help you in solving the problem of wind noise. 

INNO Universal Mount Fairing

INNO fairing is our top recommendation. You can install it on the front bar to block the gap between your car roof and the first rack bar. The installation is easy to do. You can follow the user guide brochure to finish the installation in minutes. The fairing is made of three layers of ABS plastic, so it is sturdy, durable, and waterproof.

For the measurement, there are 3 sizes for selection: 31 inches, 40 inches, and 48 inches. You have to measure the length of your rack bar to decide which size of the INNO fairing will work on your rack bar. In general, when you have this INNO fairing in hand, you need to attach three brackets to the rack bar and tighten the fairing to the bracket holders. 

YAKIMA Aerodynamic Crossbars

If you don’t have a rack system on the roof of your car, you can consider investing in an aerodynamic rack system. It is expensive, but it permanently solves the wind noise problem. Why can it do the job for you? Yakima JetStream crossbar has an aerodynamic shape and seamless aluminum construction, so, in high-speed conditions, the coming air will flow through the sides of the bar without a whistling sound.


Products Help you How to Reduce Wind Noise or Whistling Sound of Your Car Roof Box or Rack Bars

Image Name Type Dimensions Check Price
71FBSuBlfYL. AC SL1500 2024Yakima Whispbar Through Bar Roof-Rack SystemAerodynamic crossbar system65.36 x 6.7 x 5.91 inchesCheck Price on Amazon
51YbkXHfaLL. AC SL1500 2024Thule AeroBlade Edge Flush Mount RackAerodynamic crossbar system 48 x 6 x 4 inchesCheck Price on Amazon
51OaoHkEr4L. AC SL1000 2024YAKIMA – JetStream Bar Aerodynamic Crossbars for Roof Rack SystemsAerodynamic rack bars52.5 x 3.25 x 1 inchesCheck Price On Amazon
61m2CPh6OfL. AC SL1500 2024INNO INA261 Medium Universal MountFairing for Mid-Size Cars and SUVs48 x 6 x 3 inchesCheck Price on Amazon
51YVi6xc kL. AC SL1500 2024Thule AirScreen FairingFairing plate that blocks the gap between the crossbars and the roof of your car. 32 x 8 x 3 inchesCheck Price on Amazon
71o3%2BM%2BmJ%2BL. AC SL1500 2024Dakine Long Aero Rack PadYou can wrap the front bar by using this pad to reduce wind noise on the highways.7.87 x 3.15 x 3.94 inchesCheck Price on amazon
61suwFZMz3L. SL1500 2024Rhino-Rack Wind FairingFairing for reducing wind noise of your rack system.39 x 6 x 3 inchesCheck Price on Amazon
91fRg2hHhTL. AC SL1500 2024Premium Bungee CordYou can use this bungee cord to wrap the front crossbar to reduce wind noise.48 inchesCheck Price on Amazon

In Conclusion

In this article, we discussed how to fix the wind noise for a rack system or a car roof box.
First, we learned the construction of the rack system, and we familiarised ourselves with the reasons why wind noise accrues on the highways. You have to control your speed when driving with a cargo box because of risen gravity center.
Then, we listed several methods to deal with the wind noise, and we introduced ways to solve the problem.
Finally, we listed some products that you may need to use in solving the wind noise problem.

External Info
Stop Car Roof Rack Noise
How to reduce wind noise
Solutions for reducing wind noise for rack bars

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